Ramblings of an Emergency Physician in Texas

WASHINGTON – In the event of a flu pandemic or a bioterrorism attack, drugs in the future could arrive via door-to-door postal carriers or from the fire station down the street, Health and Human Services Secretary
Mike Leavitt said Tuesday.

Leavitt, in an interview with Associated Press reporters and editors, said it’s clear the current system of delivering medicines is inadequate in case of a major emergency, and he suggested possible options for the future.

…

Leavitt said the government was looking to stockpile 20 million doses of a bird flu vaccine and another 20 million doses of Tamiflu, an antiviral medication to treat the disease.

The vaccine, in human clinical trials, has created an immune response in those who have taken it, he said. Still to be determined, he said, is how much is necessary to produce a sufficient response.

Leavitt said the government’s goal is to have the medicine delivered within 12 hours of a decision.

"We’re finding that the distribution systems are not adequate to put medicines in the hands of people fast enough, so we’re beginning to look at alternative ways to speed that up," Leavitt said.

"We’re looking at having more points of distribution, for example. We’re experimenting with having the Postal Service be able to deliver them, because they walk those routes every day."

He said other possibilities included using firehouses as distribution points.

…

Okay, before you start with the postal service jokes, this model has some real advantages, and kudos to the HHS for thinking outside the ‘Health Department’ box. I don’t know about the vaccine (I cannot imagine the havoc mailing injectable vaccines would cause), but the Tamiflu distribution is a good idea.

With surveillance during an outbreak, the HHS could leverage USPS distribution by zip codes in a ring around an outbreak, one of the epidemiologic ideas to halt the spread of a disease. This makes sense!

I can’t wait to hear the Letter Carrier: "I’m from the Government and I’m here to help you".

…To stay out of trouble, always ask yourself: What if my patients are reading this? What if my colleagues are reading it?

Be honest and respectful to others. And once again, remember the HIPAA rules.

A question for the medical bloggers: Should we try to establish guidelines for medical blogging?

Now with Medlogs.com and the Grand Rounds, the movement is becoming more or less organized. Everybody values their freedom of expression and that is understandable. But should we try to construct a crude framework of what is OK and what is not? It could be helpful to the new medical bloggers who joining the field almost on a daily basis.…

My short answer is, those ARE the guidelines (though sometimes I bend the ‘respectful’ a touch). They’re succinct and easy to understand, perfect for doctors.

Earlier in the article he discussed the pseudo-anonymity of blogs like mine, Red State Moron, etc., and quite rightly points out that we could be ‘outed’ pretty easily. I’ve been telling everyone who writes me with a ‘how should I start a medical blog’ the same thing: you’re not anonymous, you’re just not broadcasting your personal identity.